Do you think this really applies to EFL teachers? I mean, most EFL positions require teachers to be native english speakers. That's not something that an Egyptian can be trained to do.

I believe there are a significant amount of Egyptians quite capable of doing the work native speakers have been doing and it will have a significant impact, primarily on people with no university education and a four week TEFL certificate teaching American Literature to 12th grade students. You can bet that job will go to an Egyptian that graduated from a Faculty of Education, English Division first. Also, the "New Egypt" is all about no more corruption among government officials, and promising to fully prosecute those who do it, so there will be no more paying off the Ministry of Education with carbon paper and staplers to overlook the foreign worker lacking a work permit.

Do you think this really applies to EFL teachers? I mean, most EFL positions require teachers to be native english speakers. That's not something that an Egyptian can be trained to do.

This is absolutely untrue!! I would say that the vast majority of EFL teachers around the world are definitely NOT native speakers. And many, if not most, of them are not only qualified to teach English, but very likely do a much better job than many of the native speaker teachers... who rattle around the world teaching English with limited educations in the field... and think they know what they are doing only because they are native speakers.

Do you think this really applies to EFL teachers? I mean, most EFL positions require teachers to be native english speakers. That's not something that an Egyptian can be trained to do.

This is absolutely untrue!! I would say that the vast majority of EFL teachers around the world are definitely NOT native speakers. And many, if not most, of them are not only qualified to teach English, but very likely do a much better job than many of the native speaker teachers... who rattle around the world teaching English with limited educations in the field... and think they know what they are doing only because they are native speakers.

Some native speaking English teachers simply donít have the formal education or even the intrinsic skills to be an effective teacher. Some even use poor grammar on a daily basis. Many non-native speakers make excellent teachers.

For myself, my first priority is to learn from a skilled native speaker. I see this as the ideal situation and I think many others do as well. Non-native speakers sometimes miss the subtleties of the language and, maybe, are less credible with cultural references.

I think this new ruling will benefit those of us who are currently living and working in Egypt. Obviously, parents would rather have their child learn an accent from a Native Speaker. Schools which promote an American or British style of education would rather have qualified teachers from those countries. So, regardless if the Ministry thinks the jobs could go to an Egyptian, I don't think the better schools will have the jobs go to Egyptians. I think those of us left playing "Survivor" will get a chance to advance our careers because we'll be in demand. Hey, we deserve something for sticking it out through this tough time.

I think this new ruling will benefit those of us who are currently living and working in Egypt. Obviously, parents would rather have their child learn an accent from a Native Speaker. Schools which promote an American or British style of education would rather have qualified teachers from those countries. So, regardless if the Ministry thinks the jobs could go to an Egyptian, I don't think the better schools will have the jobs go to Egyptians. I think those of us left playing "Survivor" will get a chance to advance our careers because we'll be in demand. Hey, we deserve something for sticking it out through this tough time.

Yosra, let us know how your work permit for the next academic year works out because it may not be as easy as this year.